Have Fun + Make Stuff + Meet Folks

This year, Fun A Day Dundee are proud to announce that we are supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland. With their support, this voluntary run project was able to continue to run, especially with its growing popularity. We are grateful to be recognised and supported, and so happy to be able to make little touches we have wanted for the exhibition, to make it ‘complete’ and that bit more fun for everyone involved.

Fun A Day Dundee encourages anyone and everyone to create/make/have fun each day in January. Each year we document and share our projects with each other online, then celebrate our efforts in a public exhibition following January!

This exhibition will feature over 50 people local and outwith of Dundee, in a wide and wonderful variety of mediums. We have seen around 80-90 people participate during the month, and were more in touch with other Fun A Day projects across the pond via Instagram. Check out the hashtag #funaday (global) and #funadaydundee2019 (local) for this years content. This year we have crochet, photography, songwriting, performance, photography, painting, sculpture, mixed media, stitching, collage, knitting, film making and much more! Participants ages range from under 10 years old to over 60 years.

This year we have live music by Mark Urban on the opening night, including our usual ‘sweet shop’ stand, and art workshops over the weekend to fix that crafty itch once viewing the exhibition! These workshops will be provided by Andrea & Sadie Sayers (local artist duo, mother and daughter, as well as regular FADD participants.)

Phew! It’s already February. The creative self projects are complete as January has come to a close, but it’s only just the beginning.

Time to give yourself a big pat on the back! Well done if you managed to make it through your Fun A Day Dundee Project, big or small, 31 days or not, you made it! We’ve seen some incredible, fun, light hearted, skilled, and colourful projects created over January and can’t wait to share them all collectively. We will have the usual ‘Participant List’ on our website here of all the projects that people created for themselves, as well as the collective art exhibition which will open in March! More on that shortly.
We are also pleased to announce that Creative Scotland are supporting us, especially the exhibition this year, which means we can have a lovely bright space to showcase our projects, as well as all the creative additions which make it a fun event for volunteers, participants, and the public. We can’t wait!

We’ve had a very active hashtag this year, especially on Instagram. Check it out: #funadaydundee2019

Fun A Day Dundee 2019 is well underway, and we have seen a fantastic variety of work from many individuals in, around and outside of Dundee. Many people have been sharing their work online, and we’ve seen a real community flourish through Instagram stories, supportive comments and tweets/shares online. Every year, we see new projects which are fun, exciting, beautiful, and humorous. Because it’s an open, and personal project to the participants, work is produced in all forms, which often change and grow in ways even participants may not anticipate, because each day brings a new feeling/ time constraint/challenge. Fun A Day encourages participants to aim to have fun, and take each day as it comes. Rather than pressuring yourself to make more, listing difficult targets, and making unrealistic expectations, we believe aiming to go with the flow, doing what you feel like, and what makes you happy is the best approach.

To mark our half way point in the month, we have a selection of projects on the go to share!

Eilidh Morris
“Peep Show – a portrait per day of one or more characters from the comedy series, Peep Show, with accompanying text from the scene pictured. Peep Show has always made me laugh and resonated with me in it’s depiction of anxious insecurity and eternal self-sabotage. Focussing on a source image for an hour or two per day and drawing free-hand is useful for sharpening up technical skills, but I’m additionally enjoying remembering hilarious moments as I draw. Personally, this project is also great for helping to build daily habits outwith art-making, like daily writing and learning Spanish.”Eilidh’s Intagram

Jenna Martin Leitch
““MAKE LIKE A SUNFLOWER” stems from a want to create a project about growth & strength, and sunshine, whilst experimenting with lots of different media and mixed media combinations.I blinkin’ LOVE sunflowers (the joybringers that they are!), and having spent most of last year watching ours grow in our garden, I just found them so inspiring, with their sunshininess and tallness!I’m a mixed media artist & illustrator, working across lots of disciplines. I like to think I’m a positive voice…my aim being, to bring sunshine into others lives. “Helping you find your happy, as I go about my life finding mine” is my tag line that I like to work from…I paint, print, write, draw, take photos, sew, embroider and tell stories. All of this *mostly* in the colour yellow! My fave subject matter being sunshine, flowers, birds, memories and nature!”Jenna’s Instagram

3. Elizabeth Taylor “Daily view just before dawn – watercolours A4 landscape size.”We love these expressive snap shots into days passed in January. Seeing the final collection will be something special!Elizabeth’s Twitter
4. Jayde Magenta Terri
“I have signed up to take part in Fun a Day Dundee 2019 because I am doing something new and focussing on being more creative daily.
I have created grounding methods for myself in abstract distractions in order to cope with my mental health.
My focus over the course of this month will be Circus Skills, specifically Contact Ball. I have never previously played with a contact ball, so all tricks learned will be completely new to me. My aim is to create a short contact ball performance at the end of the month.I have an overactive wandering brain, so I’ve mixed it up with general development of various other circus skills as well as random do something new each day thing; such as cooking, learning a new song or a dance thing. I like options, and it’s good to change things up now and then by presenting myself different challenges.”

5. Carolyn
“My project is to sew every day. Decorative stitching rather than running things up on my sewing machine. The idea is just to get back into stitching, make it a habit, try out different stitches and see what happens.”

6. Shona Mason

“I was inspired by FADD at the exhibition last year. I decided I would make a jumper, knitting a stripe or section a day in a different wool/colour/pattern. I deliberately didn’t plan ahead so that it would just evolve and am not allowing myself to over plan as I make it – the fun a day limit is actually quite useful. Very quickly however my main objective modified! I love to use wool. Wool, I mean real wool, from a sheep, is good. The sheep produce it for free, sheep are essential for the land, they need shorn for their health, it is biodegradable, and especially here in the UK, we have a huge choice of breeds of sheep and wool available to buy which has never left the UK in its production chain. Oh, and it’s breathable, warm, water repellent, odour resistant and completely natural.

So the jumper (which will actually now be a cardigan) has also become an ode to wool. Each band/stripe will be of a different wool or wool blend (ie from a different sheep breed or blend of breeds). I aim to include 30 sheep breeds (we have over 60 in Britain) and I aim to demonstrate the provenance of each. For some, I can even name the sheep who provided the wool (thank you Harriet, Martha, Violet, Frida, Freya and Emma). Some days I can allow myself hours to work on this, some days I will only manage 1 row, but it will all be fun. And then I shall have the fun of wearing my cardigan for many years to come.”

You can find more work and detailed information about the wool Shona uses on her Instagram.

7. Brenda“Having visited the Fun a day exhibition the past two years I decided to take part this year – but what would I do? My inspiration came from a Christmas gift from a good friend – a Marbling Kit and book.”

8. Hannah Wingfield“For my Fun A Day project I am crocheting as many mandalas as possible. Each one is a different pattern and colour scheme.”

You can see more of this amazing and bright crochet work on Hannah’s Instagram.

9. James Forbes“Painting of my dog, Bear.”

Surprisingly this is a first for FADD, to see one painting evolve over the month. We look forward to seeing more!

10. Maureen King“The project I am working on is a chess set made from left over corks .. just to be clear .. I didn’t drink all the bottles they came from .. I’m more of a red wine kind of gal. I decided on the chess set as my Dad was a HUGE fan of the game.. and he’s always in my thoughts this time of year.”

We love Maureen’s description and warm thoughts for making this project. Brilliant results so far as well! More on her Instagram.

11.Yvonne Stewart/Coramantic“My Fun A Day project involves creating a collection of colourful and intuitive canvases which include abstract mark making and an eclectic mix of characters. Each painting measures 5 x 5 inches in size and is painted with acrylic paints onto a box canvas.”

This year I’ve decided to focus on fun, nonsense and exploring colour. I plan to create a colourful world over the month full of quirky scenes that will make you look closely, and possibly ask… why?”

You can find all sorts of beautiful art by WhimSicAL LusH on Instagram.

14. Davy Mitchell“I am knitting baby hats and exploring some fun wool, colours and knit it public where possible. All of this while still having fun.”

David’s quick work of these cheery, hand crafted hats can be discovered on his Instagram.

15. Jilly Noble“In January I love to focus on planning for my creative business, so for Fun A Day I’ve decided to have fun making these plans more visual through Bullet Journalling. I find the process really relaxing, in a similar way to colouring books that promote mindfulness. I’m hoping to create different pages every day to share how I use it, get organised for the year and find new ways to document my life and goals.”

Check out more of Jilly’s beautiful journals as well as her own projects on her Instagram here!

16. David P Scott“Primary: Images made using only the primary colours, white and black.”

17. Katie Gammie/ katiebirdie“A wee beastie every day. My plan is to draw a wee beastie everyday – no pressure to finish them just to see what I do in the time I have.”

We love these beautifully, delicate drawings by Katie. You can see her full collection to date on herInstagram.

18. David D Scott
“I have written a daily blog since October 2012. In January, I have decided to write it in a different way. Every day, I am adding another word. On 1 January, I had one word in my blog. On 31 January, I will have 31 words.”

What a brilliant idea, and fantastic execution, with the creative approach to match the volume of words with the current date. You can read David’s blog here.

19. Mark UrbanMark is writing and recording a song every day for Fun A Day Dundee! More on his Facebook here. Give day 2 a listen below. 🙂

20. Lucy Dewar“I think this project is a great opportunity to get back into the habit of drawing. I’m working on lots of little sketchy works that will hopefully ignite a spark for some bigger ideas that I can also get stuck into during the month (and beyond!)”

We love all the creative ways Marta is making her daily flowers. Check out the current collection here!

22. Marilyn Rattray
“VISIBLE MENDING SAMPLER
My 2019 fadd project focuses on visible mending. A woolen jumper will become a sampler of mending techniques. Hopefully this will inspire others to embrace the ethos of make do and mend.”

Marilyn’s work is incredibly inventive and creative, especially with recycled materials and techniques. Discover more work on Marilyn’s Instagram.

23. Sam McPherson“Daily illustrations of women that inspire me. From artists to athletes, directors to singers, I will create a collection of inspirational women to be celebrated throughout January.”

A brilliant concept to fuel and motivate you at the beginning of the year. Check out more of Sam’s work on Instagram.

24. Lauren Lewis“I draw for relaxation after spending a long day looking after my children and teaching dance and I am also passionate about the environment and on a mission to slowly change my life to be more sustainable

The world is beautiful and wonderful so I have decided to draw a tree a day (when possible) to celebrate the diversity even of one species and highlight the value of it. They also make me relaxed when walking through the woods and seeing the wind blowing them.”

25. Cornelia Weinmann“I’m a printmaker and painter and I upcycle furniture. Fabric art has long been a ‘spare time’ interest of mine and I decided to use the FADD project to experiment with mixed media on fabric. Appliqué, freemotion embroidery, collage, monoprinting, photo transfer – the options are so inspiring.
I’m posting my fabric work onInstagram, my other artwork can be seen on corneliaweinmanndesign.com.”

26. Audrey FieldAudrey is taking January as it comes, and doing whatever she feels like. So far we’ve seen some relaxed colouring and some real crafty experiments on the go, including her handmade socks which is the first pair she has completed! Well done 🙂 Audrey’s Instagram.

27. Ed Muirhead
“Fun with musical instruments each day – a sketch and a short video of a range of instruments.”

Ed has taken part in Fun A Day Dundee since 2014, combining music, songwriting, and art each year. Ed is a music therapist as well as a songwriter and musician, and receiving daily videos of instruments every day is a fun addition to his sketches. Check out all of Ed’s FADD projects here, as well as his current project on Instagram. Also a good blog post of Ed’s first 9 instruments can be readhere.

28. Lauren Howat“Let’s step back in time, get all nostalgic and remember our favourite sweeties.”

We love sweets, especially all these nostalgic ones! If anyone has been to a Fun A Day Dundee Exhibition, they may remember our table filled with sweet shop sweeties in jars – a tradition at our exhibitions. This project is inspiring our selection this year… 🙂 Check out all of Lauren’s sweet shop designs on Instagram.

29. Caroline Cassidy“‘Doodling with thread’. I’m using Fun A Day this year to practice my hand embroidery and also my free hand sewing machine skills.”

30. Kelly Reilly“Colour explosion. A vision of Fireworks through different mediums.”

This is such a fun idea, and leaves you open to lots of experimentation! Such amazing, creative results so far. Check out Kelly’s updates on Instagram.

Thanks for checking out just 30 of MANY FADD projects which are on the go in and around Dundee this year. Following the end of January, we will have a blog post showcasing ALL of the projects! 🙂 For now, stay updated searching #funadaydundee2019 on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

What a fantastic year already and it’s only day 2. We have over 100 people in Dundee and the UK committing themselves to having fun and getting creative each day this month! It’s a fantastic way to achieve even little goals, adding up to a larger achievement to kick start your year, give a mental health, and creative boost. We already have a bunch of projects which we haven’t seen before. A lot of creative minds!
Check out the #funadaydundee2019 hashtag on twitter & instagram for all the projects in progress!

What a great start to the New Year already! With 70+ people signing up, we hope we’re going to have a lot of creative, daft, fun projects to view and share with you all. Can’t wait! Best thing to do is to get stuck in. Share your projects with friends, families, do something different each day, work to the same theme, create lots of things, do just one thing, document it creatively… there are so many options. Just make sure you’re having fun yourself!

It’s official. We’re back!
Fun A Day Dundee is only 4 weeks away! If you’re not sure what FADD is, or if you’re needing some inspiration for your project, you’re in the right place! Check out our testimonials to see what previous participants have to say about us, as well as visiting our FAQs, and the gallery.
Alternatively you can also pm us on Instagram, Facebook,Twitter, or at funadaydundee@gmail.com to have your ideas/questions answered personally.

Each year, Fun A Day Dundee sees an increase in our participants, and this year everyone has gone all out! SO many different styles, creative ideas, skills, thoughts, and feelings were captured by our 50-60 participants this year (current record breaking number!) Scroll through this shed load of fun to feel inspired! 🙂
Well done to all those who participated, big and small, exhibited or not, as a collective you’ve made an eventful start to the year!

For more information about the participants you can click on the names which are highlighted!

5. Pamela Scott‘Linocut Lyrics’ – A series of linocut prints based on some of my favourite songs.

6. Karen MacAllister‘Moon 2018’ – A collection of digital imaging, watercolours and drawings exploring the moon. ‘Moon 2018’ is a playful examination of my own imagination surrounding the moon and each piece created explores potential colours, surfaces or shapes that the moon may secretly show when no one is looking.

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7. Natasha Dijkhoff‘January Crack’ – Screenprint on canvas, sketchbook.Thoughts and feelings on that particular point in time of each day, written and translated into art.A passing moment of catharsis.

10. Suzanne ScottWhimSicAL Lush“The Owl and the Pussycat” … went to sea in a beautiful pea green boat. This year WhimSicAL LusH has chosen one of her favourite childhood poems to bring to life in a delicate 3D hand illustrated sculpture. Look closely for little hidden details and curios that will surely make you smile!

This gorgeous artwork slowly spinned around in the sunlight, allowing you to follow the owl and the pusscat on their boating adventure!

Part 2 of Jen’s Fun A Day Dundee project. Last year the printer really did not work, and she exhibited her ‘revenge’ for it failing to print her photographs. This year we get to see an intriguing collection that outlines her January from an intimate, and yet distant view.

A beautiful collection of work by Judy, using a variety of mediums that all appear delicate, whether they’re made using glass, textile, or paper.

19. Sandra CassidyThe idea was to make a new creature/stuffed animal each day (or as close to that as possible), and see where that takes me. They were make quickly and without an initial plan in place, just experimenting along the way.

These cheery characters were a delight to follow throughout January, and we’re seriously impressed with how many Sandra managed to produce in one month! Don’t they look happy together!

20. Jennifer RobsonMy Funaday was to make art in drawing, pastels and embroidery using my daily dog walks in my local woods in Ladybank as my source inspiration.

21. Andrea SayersThis year I have been making prints based on the quick drawings and sketches I made for last year’s Fun A Day.I made one small linocut each day and created prints similar to the original drawings. I also played with creating new prints and patterns by mixing and matching the images.

22. Sadie Sayers-LodgeI did a little bit of sewing each day of the month. I did flat sewing because that was the only way it would be able to hang on the wall.I made a camel, a heart, a hexagon, a triangle family, an octopus, a mummy and baby worm, a letter A, a babytoes (which are my toes), and a snowman. I was inspired by my atlas and by things I saw each day.My technique of doing it was to draw the parts on felt then I cut them out and then I sewed them together.Sadie (6)

23. Kirsty Baxter‘Ways of coping’ – I set out to film 30 Coping Mechanisms for 30 days of January (using the last day to edit). However I soon realised that my own interpretations would be limited, so I decided to see if anyone else wanted to contribute. As a result “30 Ways of Coping” became a longer and more collaborative Art Film featuring footage from all kinds of people from all over the world illustrating in their own way ‘Ways of Coping’.

Ed is our longest running participant, and has kindly provided that brilliant live music you heard at the past two opening nights of the Fun A Day Dundee exhibitions! See more of Ed’s music and all his Fun A Day projects HERE.

David decided to do something with all the waste that was visible at his work. With his spark of humour, and creative mind, 31 boxes happened! His collection of boxes from each day in January were designed to be interacted with, as the strict rule of not touching artwork in an art gallery is a pet peeve of Davids. Visitors to the Fun A Day Dundee exhibition giggled, exclaimed, and browsed their way through the 31 boxes which all contained hidden surprises, artwork, and experiments, all made from waste materials. You were even able to take away a box for yourself!

29. Heather McKenzie‘Recreating #HeathersBridges2017’ – Last year in an effort to be more active, I challenged myself to walk to / over / under as many bridges as I could. I set up a Facebook page and a lot of people contributed suggestions. I thought for ‘fun a day’ it would be interesting to try and draw or paint a selection of the bridges from photos I took.

We love these bright, soft sculptures paired with their matching prints.

31. Louise KirbyTo explore and play with an idea with no defined outcome to see where it takes me. Adapting the ‘Five Currant Buns’ nursery rhyme as a starting point creating a range of ink drawings and paper cuts.

ANFRACTUOUS: adjective | an·frac·tu·ous | an-ˈfrak-chə-wəsMeaning: of windings and intricate turnings; tortuous.I sewed abstract, geometric shapes using white card and copper thread. A new one was created every day, each with one more line than the day before, so the number of lines of thread on each card corresponds to the day of the month it was created.The name “Anfractuous” refers literally to the process of creating each card, but also hints at how life unfolds from day to day. On January 1st, all seemed simple; each day that passed added ever more complexity. At the end of the month you look back at the woven tangle, an intricate string of twists and turns.

33. Grant D Herron‘Upcycled Automata’ – Making several automata/moving mechanical objects/toys using repurposed materials and items from around the house/workshop.

Grant’s mechanical toys were a hit at the Fun A Day exhibition, with many visitors turning and pulling at the levers in order to work the toys fun elements. There was a spinning tie fighter, personal air con, and diy barber with snipping scissors. Clever, well thought out and executed brilliantly. Another Fun A Day project that uses recycled materials from home.

34. Karen Caddell WalkerReliving childhood memories. The little things that were fun when you were young to amuse yourself. No grown ups, money or friends needed.

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35. Claire & Danny ChandlerMy husband Danny draws a random squiggle, I make a doodle/drawing out of it during the month of January.

36. Elaine HoustonRetrying crafts I’ve failed at in the past (plenty of them!) & crafts I enjoy but haven’t made time for in a while.

A brilliant variety of crafts picked up during the month, which were all worth re visiting. We love this collection, and know the painted wooden slices were popular at the exhibition! Fun A Day can be about doing what you feel like doing day to day, whatever it may be!

37. Sherry Trimon‘Little Abstractions’ – Screenprint on paper.Playful experimentations with colour and abstract shapes working with paper stencils, paper cut outs and screenprint. A month of practice and experiments.

Beautifully illustrated self care tips by Deborah who also brought Debz along on the opening night for the Fun A Day Dundee exhibition to say hello to everyone! Deborah provides one of a kind workshops where you can create your own puppet in a fun environment that supports mental and emotional well being.

Gavin’s comical and interesting approach to Fun A Day Dundee includes thoughts, diaries, poetry and experiments with his everyday life in January. One item we particularly enjoyed was ‘Burns Night’; a piece of paper with said title, partially burned with fire. Gavin’s exhibited work also featured an interactive element that also promotes recycling/waste reduction. Visitors were encouraged to write on a two meter long sheet of paper their ‘tales of waste by companies’ as said sheet of paper was part of the wasteful packaging for a watch strap.

Laura created these gorgeous wee creatures which individual personalities! Another crochet/knitted/textile project for Fun A Day Dundee, helping this year become the first year to hit all the major art mediums. Amazing! We love the birds hanging in their perches.

A brilliant way to get creative when you have your hands full, especially with a new born! Sam and Oscar are our youngest participants to the Fun A Day Dundee project. They loved seeing all the other projects at the exhibition over the weekend, and felt inspired to paint rocks after seeing Carnoustie Rocks project.

47. Ellie Fiddes‘Fun with yarn and fabrics’ – Usually I make things with a work purpose in mind such as preparing for classes or a workshop. This month I have taken time to play around with whatever I feel like just for the fun of it. And it has been great enjoying the process, rather than worrying about how it ‘should’ or will turn out!

Brilliant use of simple materials, achieving depth, emotion and curiosity within this work, all while using a similar colour pallet. Which one is your favourite?

50. Charlotte Lodge‘Marker Doodles on postage label stickers’ – There was no plan for this year as a theme, however I continued the same use of marker pens on labels through out the project. each day would be something different and I aimed to spend no longer than an hour on this. This posed a challenge to me as I naturally like working in batches rather than working a little bit at a time.

51. Emma AllanCARNOUSTIE ROCKS –“I started Carnoustie Rocks in July 2017 & the project really caught the imagination of the local community & beyond! It’s a simple concept: paint a rock & hide it for someone else to find. They can then keep it or rehide it or replace it with their own painted rock art. I like to think we’re spreading joy around the world one painted rock at a time 😊

I’ve really enjoyed creating little works of art but we’ve been a bit quieter over the winter months so I wanted to kick start 2018 & encourage more people to join in and be creative. It’s also given me more confidence and made me step out of my comfort zone a bit – participating in an exhibition, talking about Carnoustie Rocks at a meeting of local groups & speaking to the press!! It’s amazing what a few painted rocks can do 😀”

Stuart created short animated sketches for Fun A Day Dundee this year, after creating 31 sketches of his travels for Fun A Day Dundee 2017. Very skilled, fun and imaginative work. You can check them out here!

58. Aylson StewartCreating a photo book/zine of digital collage made from each day’s top news post on bbc Scotland.

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59. Lauren HerdFighting the Good Fight – a series of positive thinking and doings